Run if you can - DVD

Film: 2010 was qualitatively a very good year for young German film. Enjoyable works like "13 Semester", "Friendship!" or "vincent will meer" have finally brought a breath of fresh air to the local film landscape. Now "Renn, wenn Du kannst" is another very successful film from 2010 coming to our home cinemas, which mixes humour and unsentimental drama almost perfectly into a whole worth seeing.

Dietrich Brüggemann's film tells the story of Benjamin (Robert Gwisdek), who has been in a wheelchair since an accident seven years ago. The accident and its consequences have made Ben bitter and cynical. With his manner he has already scared away many a civilian and he also wants to make life as difficult as possible for his newest helper Christian (Jacob Matschenz). But when he realizes that Christian can stand up to him, he accepts his help and even sees him as something like a friend. By chance, the young cellist Annika (Anna Brüggemann), who has been secretly watching Ben from his apartment for two years, joins the two. The three of them quickly fall into a world of their own, which threatens to be abruptly destroyed when the two men fall in love with the young woman and she just can't decide between Ben and Christian...

The screenplay, written by director Dietrich Brüggemann together with his sister and leading actress Anna Brüggemann, is full of great dialogue, which is wonderfully conveyed to the screen by the three main actors. Special mention should be made of the performance of Robert Gwisdek ("13 Semester"), who, with the help of two paraplegic counselors, has learned to play his role as a quadriplegic almost perfectly and believably.

Dietrich Brüggemann, whose youngest sister is herself in a wheelchair, was keen to deal cinematically with the question of how disabled people live in our society and how they are treated by that same society. But it was equally important to him not to make a dreary thesis film out of it. Brüggemann shows a very good attitude here: cinema can be thought-provoking and entertaining at the same time. More directors should follow this credo, because many a film suffers precisely from the fact that certain topics are approached too cramped and dreary and in no case should be laughed at.

"Rennen, wenn Du kannst" is a film with a great cast, which tells a beautiful story beyond common clichés with a lot of charm, imagination, wit and cleverness. And even if there are a few small lengths in the last third, the film can at least boast of offering the perfect finale at the end. The final scene and the last shot are simply great and in their consistency truly the best ending that could have been found for this story. Lovers of intelligent, affectionate and humorous German cinema should not miss this film in any case!

Picture + Sound: Technically, the DVD is well implemented. The sound comes harmoniously mixed and the clean picture can convince in terms of overall sharpness and contrast quite. The DVD also has a hearing film version for the visually impaired. Commendable!

Extras: The bonus material starts with a very entertaining and interesting audio commentary by director Dietrich Brüggemann, his sister Anna Brüggemann and their co-actors Robert Gwisdek and Jacob Matschenz. The four talk in a relaxed atmosphere about the filming, for example about the choice of location, the use of special effects, connection errors and why it was important for Anna Brüggemann to be naked in the love scene with Robert Gwisdek. It's easy to hear in the audio commentary how much heart and soul, but also how much fun, everyone involved in the making of the film had.

Very originally, the bonus material also presents spoilers, cut scenes and alternate scenes. Instead of presenting these loosely shuffled together, the effort was made to put the whole thing together in the right order, resulting in an alternative, "lustige" version (approx. 34 min.). An amusing and absolutely worth seeing extra.

In addition, the DVD has some casting scenes, animation figures and trailers to offer. Very good!

Conclusion: "Run If You Can" is a good example of how well comedy and drama can be blended. Great cast and engagingly directed, the film is without a doubt one of the best German films of 2010. On DVD, the film is technically convincing and comes with some very nice extras in the form of the audio commentary and the "funny version". Absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp